Intertwining gameplay and story

[StreetBushido]

First things first: this is my first post on this forum so: Hello folks!

 

Now to the issue at hand.

 

One of my favorite things about Planescape: Torment was how you could learn abilities that you could use in many different ways. The Nameless One could learn a forgotten language which he could deciphre a journal with, and later also talk to a previous incarnation with. He could learn to speak with the dead, and this became useful in quite a few places as well. He was immortal, which presented interesting solutions. He could raise the dead, which also became useful here and there.

 

Furthermore, your stats affected how things played out in the story. Persuasion, threats, figuring things out, even killing people (outside of combat). The choices you made also came back to affect you later. The information you had gathered could be used at later points, and not just for the first situation that you had gathered the information for.

 

This to me made it all feel very interconnected. My gameplay choices: the way I spent my character points, the places I had been, the items I had bought (or the loot I had acquired), the characters I had talked to, the thing I had done felt connected to, and interwoven with, the story.

 

Now, as a fan of Planescape: Torment I feel that I can say that while it is one of the best stories in gaming, it is perhaps not the best game. In truth, it's more of a visual/interactive novel with some other stuff around it. That is what I would like to see Project Eternity move away from. Yes, I love the story presented in Planescape: Torment, I love the way my actions affect how that story becomes presented. What I would like to see, though, is a better marriage between gameplay and story.

 

As a counter-example, let's look at the Mass Effect series. Now, I really like those games, but after many playthroughs i started to get the feeling that I was playing two games: shooter and a visual novel. The action and the conversations were usually very separate. On a few occasions the fights did feel well connected to the story, but a lot of the time it felt like I was shooting my way between cutscenes that I poked at (conversations).

 

I don't kow if I'm properly getting across what I want to say, but I hope the general gist of it survives the translation from my mind to text.

 

I think a more concrete way of saying what I want to get across is: let the game acknowledge that we're playing it. Our actions must have consequences, in some way. Let us know that the game knows that we're actually playing it, if that makes any sense.

 

Interconnect the gameplay with the story. Games have come so far and we have learned so much. Let's put all that experience to use and move away from the mistakes of the past.

 

Check out the guys over at Extra Credits, they present this much better than I: http://extra-credits.net/

[Kilroy_Was_Here]

Have you played Fallout New Vegas? There were many conversation options that opened up quest/gameplay possibilities based on your skills, perks and even reputation with various factions. I believe that is the kind of thing you are asking for.

[JOG]

Actually that's the salt of pepper of the RPG generation PE aims to bring back. Today's RPGs play just like the ones of the 80ies and early 90ies, just with polygons and voice out instead of bitmaps and text. In the short period from '96 to 2003, a lot of RPGs were released where you actually could roleplay your character. And guess what - most of these games were made by the guys who are today known as Obsidian Entertainment.

[Kilroy_Was_Here]

Ah, roleplaying your character...

 

*potential response for the PC in BG1 to an NPC*

 

"Ok, I've just about had my FILL of riddle asking, quest assigning, insult throwing, pun hurling, hostage taking, iron mongering, smart arsed fools, freaks, and felons that continually test my will, mettle, strength, intelligence, and most of all, patience! If you've got a straight answer ANYWHERE in that bent little head of yours, I want to hear it pretty damn quick or I'm going to take a large blunt object roughly the size of Elminster AND his hat, and stuff it lengthwise into a crevice of your being so seldom seen that even the denizens of the nine hells themselves wouldn't touch it with a twenty-foot rusty halberd! Have I MADE myself CLEAR?!"

 

hehe... he's saying what we're all thinking!

[StreetBushido]

I've seen that quote before, yet never ingame!

 

Yes, Fallout: New Vegas hit a lot of the the right spots with its combination of things that were really good in older games and improvements that have been made in later games. Considering that the same developers are working on PE, I think things are going to be just fine.

[agewisdom]

Yes! Fully agree...

 

I can never forget the awesomeness of unlocking the Circle of Zerthimon and gettting access to those cool spells. And the lore... and the fact that you could unlock the 7 and 8th levels of the Circle and teach this to Dak'kon. That was the epitome of coolness in a cRPG for me.

[StreetBushido]

Yeah, the whole story arc with the Circle of Zerthimon was some of the best writing I've seen, regardless of media. It was a very powerful moment when you shared that knowledge with Dak'kon. I look forward to more of that kind of stuff in PE!